Saving money

[Ambulance Chaser]

I'm trying to cut back on living expenses to pay for home renovations, and am interested in suggestions you have to save money. I'm interested in any and all thoughts, from "Get rid of your landline" to "only drink Bud Light when going out" to "buy cereal by the truckload at Costco." I've already gone cold turkey on clothing and shoe purchases, so no need to mention that obvious one.

 

[DNW]

Find a couple of addicting games to play online. If you stay home and play games during your free time, you can't go out and spend money.

 

[Thomas]

Off the top of my head:

Bring your lunch to work.
Cook your breakfast / dinner at home
Brew your own coffee and use a travel mug to take some to the office
Cancel the magazine subscriptions
Buy used books.

Some may not apply, hope this helps.

 

[visionology]

1) Consolidate phones (as mentioned)
2) Limit plans to only what you need (cable, internet, cell phones)
3) Buy store brand foods when possible
4) Always use a grocery card and if you don't have one use theirs
5) Stop buying newspapers and magazines and read the internet
6) Go through your house and sell items you don't need
7) Set the central air only when really needed, otherwise use fans and open windows
8) Limit the amount of going out and takeout and instead cook in.
9) Instead of going to the movies, rent a movie.
10) When driving somewhere always take the more economical car
11) Use mass transit instead of driving if it is cheaper
12) Put short term money into high yield short term CDs that mature in time for the renovations or at least have a money market account.
13) Turn off electronics when not in use (lights, computers, etc)
14) Track all your expenses in a single month on a spread sheet and the following month go through and determine what is dispensible.
15) Use 87 octane gas instead of premium if possible.
16) Instead of going to an event, instead go to a free museum, park, etc.
17) For outdoor lighting use solar lights instead of traditional.
18) Replace all your indoor lighting with energy saving lights.
19) Check the tire pressure on your car tires and make sure they are spot on to save gas.

 

[Nonk]

Review all outgoings, especially insurance policies and credit cards, better deals are probably easliy obtainable.

Sell unwanted items on ebay, a few thousand dollars is probably lying unwanted around the house.

 

[Sartorian]

Use cash for all expenditures--no cash, no buy.

If you do eat out, don't order drinks, appetizers or dessert (but do tip appropriately--if you're too poor to tip, you're too poor to eat out.)

Drink coffee at home.

At meals, take all leftovers and eat them for lunch the following day, or dinner that evening.

Don't buy bottled water; drink from the tap. Tap water in America is better than bottled water, anyway.

Recycle paper and refill printer ink cartridges, rather than buying new ones.

Stay home on Friday and Saturday nights.

Go to movie matinees rather than night shows.

Get a library card.

Read the paper online if you currently have a subscription.

Use Arm & Hammer washing soda in your laundry and cut your detergent portions in half.

Hang dry all your laundry.

Ride a bike or walk instead of driving places.

Write letters or e-mails instead of phoning people.

...

I'll stop there.

[edit] sorry, I see visionary already mentioned some things. I agree with the CD suggestion, too, and I'll add to it: diversify your CDs, and put money into them on a rolling basis, and purchase several with different yield periods.

If you do any investing, consider longterm investments in DRiPs (Dividend Reinvestment Plans), mainly stable, growth stocks.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by Sartorian

Use cash for all expenditures--no cash, no buy.

Tap water in America is better than bottled water, anyway.


Really, why?

 

[Joffrey]

Tap Water quality in the U.S. depends on location. In MD I've always drank tap and it's as good as bottled water. Apparently NYC water is great too (a new yorker friend said that's why the pizza is better..)

 

[shellshock]

Originally Posted by Jodum5

Tap Water quality in the U.S. depends on location. In MD I've always drank tap and it's as good as bottled water. Apparently NYC water is great too (a new yorker friend said that's why the pizza is better..)

yeah. it's good in seattle. its disgusting in so cal.

 

[VMan]

Have a closet-cleaning sale on SF.

You'll make a bunch of money, and you'll also hook up those who don't have as much to spend on nice things.

 

[tundrafour]

U.S. tap water is good in the sense that its contents are more strictly regulated than those of bottled water (ones bottled from spring water, etc.). How good the taste is, if you're sensitive to that sort of thing (to me, water seems to be, for the most part, water), can vary, but it's always basically guaranteed that drinking tap water won't make you sick or kill you (at least in the short term).

It's already been mentioned, but hang drying laundry really does make a big difference, especially if you don't own a washer and dryer (I don't). I almost never use the dryers available in my apartment complex. I think they're $1 or $1.25 per load, which is quite a bit lower than most laundromats, but even then I'm sure I probably save $15 to $20 a month because of it.

 

[Connemara]

I do not understand this concept you speak of.

 

[acidboy]

Hide your credit cards.

 

[aybojs]

I don't get this anti-credit card sentiment. I actually go out of my way to pay for every single possible transaction using my credit card because: a) it gives me an easily traceable record of my spending that can be cross referenced by keeping an archive of old receipts and b) I have a rewards card that gives me an (admittedly small, but still worthwhile) amount of cash back for every purchase I make with the card. Paying cash regularly would make it much more difficult to keep tabs on my spending and would cause me to miss out on the various rewards a good incentive-laden credit card can offer. I've had a credit card since age 18 and have never made a single late payment nor paid any balance in less than the full amount in my 5-6 years of usage, so all that APR/interest/debt/whatever junk is irrelevant for me.

It's true that the misuse of a credit card can create or exacerbate financial problems, but if someone's in that situation, it's not the fault of the credit card, it's that the person is an irresponsible idiot who needs to get his stuff together.

 

[VMan]

The rewards card is a good point, but I have put about $12,500 on my card since January 2007, and I just applied for my first rewards check - $96.50.

Then again, I only put about half my monthly expenses on my card. If I used it for everything, the rewards would be greater, but it's still nothing significant.